Investigation over, Nanavati to submit report later

"All the proceeding of the investigation is over and now I don't need to talk to any player or official in this case. I'm satisfied with the answers of both Sreesanth and Harbhajan. I've all the evidence that I need to prepare the report," Nanavati said after the hearing.

He said both the players were very supportive and co-operating during the proceeding.

"I talked to Harbhajan for one hour and 15 minutes and 30 minutes with Sreesanth. They were quite friendly during the hearing," the advocate said.

Mumbai Indians' stand-in skipper Harbhajan slapped Kings XI Punjab pacer Sreesanth after the April 25 IPL match in Mohali, which saw the off-spinner being banned from the remainder of the IPL, apart from losing nearly Rs 3 crore of match fee.

BCCI slapped him a show-cause notice for his behaviour before appointing Nanavati to probe the incident. The hearing took place at the Gujarat Law Society building where Nanavati arrived at around 1400 hrs, followed by BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah. The hearing started at 1430 hrs after Harbhajan arrived, while Sreesanth came to the place around 1530 hrs.

By 1615 hrs, the hearing was over as both the players came out, followed by Nanavati and Shah. "I'll be submitting my report on Monday. I have recorded the entire proceeding on video for my record," Nanavati said. Shah said Nanavati had also spoken to Match Referee Farokh Engineer.

"Nanavati has spoken to Farokh Engineer. The hearing is complete and Nanavati has recorded statements of both the players. It's a serious report and he would submit it to BCCI President Sharad Pawar on Monday," the BCCI official said.

It is learnt that Harbhajan pleaded guilty, like he had done in the April 28 hearing before Engineer, and said he made mistakes but if given one final chance, he would never repeat

them.

However, the BCCI is unlikely to spare him and it is speculated that the temperamental off-spinner would be handed down a ban of 10 one-day matches. The IPL had on April 28 banned Harbhajan for the rest of the Twenty20 tournament after he pleaded guilty, a punishment that cost him a whopping Rs three crores.

The ban meant that Harbhajan, who was captain of the Mumbai Indians in the absence of an injured Sachin Tendulkar when the incident took place, would sit out for a minimum of 11 IPL matches and a maximum of 13 matches in case his team reached the final.

The 27-year-old player, who has a notorious reputation for on-field skirmishes, was handed down the punishment under which he would forfeit match fees from the third match onwards by Engineer after a two-hour hearing.

Sreesanth, who was at the receiving end of Harbhajan's temper, was also warned against aggressive on-field behaviour and told that his conduct would be taken seriously.

Nanavati was appointed Commissioner on April 28 to go into the fracas and was given 15 days time to submit his report to BCCI President Sharad Pawar.

Nanavati will submit his report to Pawar on Monday and the Disciplinary Committee will then take a final decision. Apart from Pawar, President-elect Shashank Manohar and vice-president Chirayu Amin are the other members of the committee.

Mumbai Indians manager Lalchand Rajput was fined 50 per cent of the match fee for not stopping the off-spinner's attack on Sreesanth playing for Kings XI Punjab.

Harbhajan, who was bought by Mukesh Ambani's franchise for a whopping Rs 3.40 crore during the landmark auction, was found guilty of breaching level 4.2 offence under the ICC Code of Conduct that relates to physically assaulting a fellow player, match official or spectators.